Crock Pot Roast Chicken

Crock Pot Roast Chicken is a great, low-far way to make chicken for soups, salads, or for enjoying all on its own!

As I’ve mentioned in the past couple of posts, life with a newborn is akin to running around like a chicken with its head cut off for most of the day (see what I did there?) Hurrying up and down the stairs, popping pacifiers in and out out of mouths, doing load after load of laundry, and kissing baby cheeks ’til ya’ get swatted in the face or your hair pulled.

That is to say, it’s go, go, go all day long and by the time dinner rolls around there’s virtually no more gas left in the tank to cook dinner. That’s why I’m loving Crock Pot Roast Chicken. Season a whole chicken with anything and everything you’ve got in the spice cupboard then throw it in a crock pot and let it cook for a few hours on high, or low and slow all day. The result is perfectly cooked chicken that’s ready to eat whenever you are.

Newborn or not – this recipe is perfect for busy families, or even one or two-person households, as there’s a ton of different ways to use the leftovers!

Carve the breast meat right off the bone and enjoy with a a side of pasta or veggies, or chop or shred the meat to use in salads, soups, tacos, and casseroles (I’ll leave a few more ideas at the end of this post.) This is the recipe that keeps on giving.

My Mom brought this crock pot roast chicken over to Ben and me our first week home from the hospital after having Lincoln, and Ben loved eating it cold straight out of the fridge. The man has never reheated a meal in his life. Seriously, not even soup. Takes it to work, puts it on his desk, and then eats it at room temperature for lunch. I can’t even.

Anywho! Start by crumpling 5 or 6 sheets of foil into balls then lay them into the bottom of a 5 quart crock pot. Here’s the crock pot I have >The tin foil ensures your chicken does not sit simmering in it’s own fat, should you choose to leave the skin on.

Next get the chicken ready. I used a 3.65lb whole chicken with the neck and giblets removed, and then removed the skin to make this dish lower in fat. Chicken skin actually has a TON of fat, in case you were wondering! Removing the skin is messy, but not hard, and it took me about 5 minutes with the aid of some kitchen shears. Just do it in the sink on a cutting board lest you fling chicken skin all over the counter and have to decontaminate the entire kitchen. Ain’t nobody got time for dat.

Just an FYI, removing the skin will result in a SLIGHTLY less juicy chicken than leaving it on, but when you’re mixing the chicken into other dishes, you can’t tell the difference.

Next mix together 2 Tablespoons each melted butter and extra virgin olive oil in a bowl.

Then mix in a bunch of spices like paprika, garlic and onion powders, salt, and pepper. Feel free to change this spice mixture up. If you’re making chicken solely for tacos – use taco spice. If you’re wanting to use it in chili – use chili powder and cumin, etc. This chicken is totally customizable!

Brush the spice mixture all over the chicken, including under the skin if you leave it on, then place the chicken breast-side up on top of the foil.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours (depending on the size of your bird,) or until the chicken is very tender and the thigh bone easily twists off.

Crock Pot Roast Chicken

Description

Crock Pot Roast Chicken is a great, low-far way to make chicken for soups, salads, or for enjoying all on its own!

Ingredients

serves 4

3.5 - 4lb whole chicken, giblets and neck removed

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper

6 ripped sheets foil, crumpled into balls

Directions

Place foil balls in bottom of crock pot. Pat chicken dry and remove skin if desired to to lower fat content (chicken may be just slightly less juicy.) Combine butter and extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl then stir in spices. Brush all over chicken, including under skin, then place chicken breast-side up in crock pot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 6-7, or until meat is tender, and thigh can be easily removed.

I have a Hamilton Beach Stay or Go slow cooker, which includes a thermostat you can stick in the bird so you know it’s cooked. Best invention ever. You can find the slow cooker at Kohls (use your Kohls cash)

Good Lookin’ out!!!!! This might be my new way of ‘baking’chicken. ….Life with 8 kids, including a newborn… you know the rest. Great trick with the foil, because my major concern with cooking chicken in the crockpot was how to keep it from turning to mush soaked in fat.Thanks for sharing this idea.

Awesome! Love crock pot recipes – get supper going before I leave for work and come home to a dinner that is ready to eat! There are also many “make now bake later” recipes that work for busy moms – on days when you have a bit more energy one can prepare several and freeze them, then just thaw and bake on days when you are too pooped to cook! Would love to see some of those recipes with your healthy spin on them. Congratulations and God bless!

Flip the chicken so it’s breast side down if you need it to cook faster. Also,put a small colander on top of the chicken when almost done cooking and fill with veggies. It will steam them so you have the whole meal ready to serve.

I’ve been following your blog for a while but never commented so far. But now I simply must! I cannot believe you can get all this fantastic food on the table with a tiny baby around! When mine were this small, I found it very difficult to cook like I used to. I was also known to overcook (ok, scorch) or undercook food because it was inevitably time to breastfeed while I should have had an eye on the food… Once, we had a dinner of nothing but grilled fish because both rice and spinach were burnt.

Yes! This looks delicious. I do not fancy myself a cook -I hate coming home at the end of a work day all hungry and *then* having to whip up a meal, usually my more-adventurous-in-the-world-of-cooking husband does it. But crock pots? I can dig that, set it up in the morning and forget it!

This recipe looks fast and delicious, and I see you have a bunch more. I’m definitely bookmarking this!

I love the tinfoil trick! I will have to try that. My husband also read somewhere that another good trick of getting crispy chicken skin when roasting in the oven is to place a piece of bread on top. He tried it and it worked! Not sure how that translates to the crockpot. May have to try both!

I have done whole chickens in the crock pot before (delicious!) but have never tried it with the skin off! I will have to try soon and am looking forward to it being less fattening. And bless you for posting regularly and cooking with a newborn! He is so adorable.

Save the carcass and throw it in the crock pot all day with some random veggies, a bay leaf or two, and some water. DELICIOUS homemade broth. You can also get any leftover meat off easily to make soup. I actually save little bits of veggies in the freezer when I cook and throw them in when I have a chicken carcass (trimmed asparagus, carrot ends, if I don’t use all of an onion, etc.). My husband hates looking in the freezer because he swears I’m freezing trash!

This looks fantastic, and I’m always looking for ways to utilize my crock pot! I have chili in it now actually, but seems this chicken will be in there soon. Do you happen to have a BBQ Rotisserie chicken recipe that could be crock-pot friendly??

I also like making stock with the leftover juices and bones from the chicken. Just leave the drippings in the crock pot and add the bones back in after picking off the meat. Then I add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, peppercorns, bay leaf, parsley, and salt. Fill the crock pot with water and cook it on low for another 6 hours. I like to freeze the stock you get from it for use in recipes later. I just made some tortilla soup with stock I had saved from my last crock pot chicken.

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hi, i’m kristin!

My name is Kristin, and I'm an Iowa girl who loves to cook, eat, and travel! After being diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2013, I share delicious and approachable gluten-free recipes made with everyday, in-season ingredients. Visit my Recipe Index for inspiration!MORE ABOUT ME

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